PARIS – The French finance minister has said that his country is engaged in talks with the Gulf countries to find an alternative to Russian oil supplies and reduce the country’s energy dependency on Moscow. “Discussions are already underway with the United Arab Emirates. We need to find an alternative to Russian oil,” Bruno Le […]...
ANKARA – Qatar, Kuwait and Iran have summoned Indian envoys over insulting remarks on Islam’s Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) by a spokesperson of India’s ruling party. In a statement, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said it summoned the Indian envoy to voice “disappointment of Qatar and its total rejection and condemnation to the...
NEW DELHI (AA) – India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said that it had suspended the party’s spokeswoman Nupur Sharma in response to insulting remarks she made against the Prophet Muhammad. “The BJP strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion. The Bharatiya Janata Party is also against any id...
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – At least 49 people died and more than 300 others were injured as a devastating fire in Bangladesh’s southern port city of Chattogram continued to burn for nearly 24 hours, an official said on Sunday. “We have a record of 49 deaths till now and more than 300 injuries. Of them, […]
ISTANBUL (AA) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday welcomed the extension of a truce in war-torn Yemen for two additional months. “Iran hopes that a political solution would be reached, a sustainable ceasefire would be established and the siege would be lifted completely under the shadow of the mentioned efforts,” ministry spokesman Saeed Kha...
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AA) – The first batch of Hajj pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. A group of 358 pilgrims from Indonesia arrived at Prince Mohamed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in the holy city of Madinah, the state news agency SPA reported. […]
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – A massive fire raged through an high-altitude forest in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least four people, officials and local media reported. The wildfire — the second that the country has suffered in less than two weeks — engulfed large swathes of forestland in the Shangla district of Khy...
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud implored the international community to help Wednesday with the ongoing drought response as Somalia prolonged drought conditions escalate. Mohamud, who was elected May 15, visited internally displaced persons camps on the outskirts of Baidoa, one of the worst affected areas in the...
ANKARA / ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkiye and Pakistan are determined to increase cooperation at all levels, including on bilateral and international platforms, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, as he welcomed Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the presidential palace in Ankara. “We have achieved the annual b...
JENIN CITY, Palestine (AA) – The Israeli army killed a Palestinian and injured three others late Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The agency said Belal Kab’ha, 24, came to the hospital in critical condition after being shot with live bullets. It said three others also were injured b...
